Olive Oil Market Digest w4

Weekly Olive Oil Market Updates

Price Updates

The data we retrieve from all our sources point to divergence in the movements for olive oil prices at origin in Spain, Greece, and Italy. Below, we showcase the movement of mean prices for the three main categories of olive oil in each of those countries. The numbers mentioned are calculated based on data from the Union of Olive Oil-Producing Municipalities of Crete, PoolRed, and Ismea Mercati, as well as from transactions we foster through our platform.

The numbers from Greece showcase the relative stability taking place in the country on all frontiers influencing the market and its prices. In contrast, prices in Italy have picked up a positive momentum in the last few weeks. That is due to the bad quality of this season’s produce, which has resulted in significantly low availability by now. In some regions of the country, there are no commercial transactions taking place whatsoever.

This trend is observed in all categories of olive oil, not just EVOO. The current EVOO market is generally reflected in the rest of the olive oil markets in the other countries under consideration.

As for Spain, it comprises an exciting case this month. Prices in the Spanish market seem to have shifted away from the previous month’s levels and are grounded at levels near €9.00/Kg. A possible explanation for this could be that private oil mills need to make the payments they owe to the farmers who are handing them olives for crushing. Their urgent need to liquidate has increased their eagerness to sell, which in turn increased the numbers of commercial transactions performed and lowered the prices at which they are conducted.

Additionally, last week’s rainfalls in Spain resulted in an average of 50L of water falling per square meter. This development benefits the water reservoirs and shifts the expectations of producers and market operators toward higher levels of final output. The minister of agriculture in Spain, Luis Planas, even said that the renewed estimation for the drop reaches 800.000 tons. Whether this estimation is based on facts or not, such statements from government officials certainly influence operators' expectations toward higher final production levels for this season.

Year-on-year Increase in the Value of Italian Food Exports 

The updated data on the level of international activity performed by the Italian agricultural sector highlight the country's central role in the main European markets for agricultural products, like Germany. To put this into context, the overall value of Italian food exports showed a 6% increase in the first eleven months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2024. Furthermore, as we similarly see among other European players like Greece and Spain, third countries are increasingly important for the Italian sector.

Prime examples of such countries are the Middle Eastern markets of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are performing more and more international commercial transactions year by year. This is also reflected in the growing trend observed in the number of orders that Wikifarmer facilitates between suppliers of products of Mediterranean origin and buyers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE since our business activity was initiated there.

Of course, it is imperative to note that these exceptional results refer to the country claiming the highest number of products with PDO and PGI seals in the EU, with 740,000 companies and 4 million individuals active in the sector.

In this sense, we cannot unlink the aforementioned outcomes from agricultural activity's vast economic and social benefits when it is moved by a drive toward higher added-value products instead of short-sightedness. As we have stressed before, it is a common practice in Italy, even among small-scale operators, to standardize and label their products. In contrast, and speaking of olive oil in particular, Greek farmers prefer selling it in bulk. 

An immediate implication of this situation lies in the fact that, even in turbulent times in the olive oil sector, in which Greek olive oil poses as an emergency solution, the Greek brand fails to come to the spotlight, remaining obscured on supermarket shelves worldwide behind their competitors’ products.

Wikifarmer at Gulfood 2024

To further foster this developing relationship between Middle Eastern and European agricultural markets, Wikifarmer will participate in Gulfood 2024 in Dubai this February. Through the discussions of our representatives there with stakeholders of food manufacturers and wholesalers, our team will intensify its efforts to contribute to the internationalization of trade and supply chains to serve its globalized view of agriculture.

Wikifarmer negotiates with several suppliers to secure a steady supply of Olive oil at reasonable prices. Our team can help you with price negotiation, pay with credit terms, and arrange logistics and transportation. We also implement strict Quality Assurance procedures, making sure that producers provide us with all certificates that prove their claims about their products, and that all relevant analyses take place. 

Our contribution is not constrained just to the facilitation of value optimization for the various market players. We also invest a lot in making sure that our highly-valued partners, either from the supply or from the demand side, keep up with the latest developments in their fields.

This is why we have created Wikifarmer Academy, in order to offer affordable educational courses to all. The Wikifarmer Academy is an online school that aims to provide complete educational courses that will empower you and help you cultivate more efficiently and sustainably. In case you are interested in learning more, check our new course "Wikifarmer Expert in Sustainable Olive Oil Production, Quality, and Economics" here.